482 The Bird 



courtship and songs, the rearing of young birds, the avoid- 

 ing of enemies, the selection of food and suitable haunts, 

 and, lastly, the encountering and overcoming of dangers, — 

 new and wide-spread, — which are now affecting the environ- 

 ment of every creature of this world. Of greater impor- 

 tance than ever before is this adaptation to new con- 

 ditions; since man and his traps and his guns have come 

 upon the scene, upsetting all the world-old order of 

 Nature and slowly, surely, claiming the whole earth for 

 himself. 



May the naturalists of to-day realize their opportunity 

 and do their best to preserve to us and to posterity what 

 is left to us of wild life ! If not, let us pity the Nature- 

 lover of two hundred years hence! 



